That Which We Are, We Are
by AngelQueen
Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. The members of the Bat Family gather to say farewell to the one who created the legacy of Batman.
1. Prologue

That Which We Are, We Are  
By AngelQueen  
Disclaimer: The characters of Batman Beyond are not owned by me. I'm using them purely for the entertainment of the readers here and no money is being made from this. Standard disclaimers also apply.  
Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. The members of the Bat Family gather to say farewell to the one who created the legacy of Batman.  
  
Prologue  
  
It seemed to be a normal Gotham morning. Adults woke up, ate breakfast and sat down to watch the morning news before heading off to work. But today would turn out to be anything but normal.  
  
"Hello everyone, this is Gale Benden of Good Morning Gotham. There has been some tragic news from the financial world this morning. Gotham billionaire Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne-Powers, apparently passed away early Monday morning in his private home, Wayne Manor. We'll go now to Mariah Silven, who has the latest on this sad event. Mariah?"  
  
The screen flashed from Gale Benden to a blond haired, green-eyed woman, Mariah Silven. Nodding seriously to the camera, she began to speak to the shocked and saddened viewers of Gotham City.  
  
"Yes, Gale. I'm here outside of the Wayne-Powers headquarters. Richard Grayson, head of Grayson Inc. and former ward of Bruce Wayne has released that the billionaire had suffered massive heart failure. Mr. Wayne made his wishes known that he wanted to die naturally and not kept on life-support. Surrounded by his two former wards, Richard Grayson and Timothy Drake, personal assistant Terrance McGinnis, and close friend, Commissioner Barbara Gordon, he died at two A.M. Monday morning.  
  
Commissioner Gordon later asked the media in a private conference that the media of Gotham keep a blackout on Wayne's demise until the will had been read. Apparently, Mr. Wayne left everything to his personal assistant of the past six years, Terrance McGinnis. He has declined to comment on his inheritance, but McGinnis most certainly must have been shocked.   
  
Gordon has also released that Wayne's funeral will be private and take place in three week's time. This is Mariah Silven of Good Morning Gotham. Back to you, Gale."  
  
In the home of Mary and Matthew McGinnis, the television switched off. Both occupants of the apartment were not surprised to hear of Bruce Wayne's death. They'd known since Terry had called them early Monday morning, his face pale and streaked with fallen tears.  
  
What had shocked them was the facts given to them about the will.   
  
"Mom," Matt said slowly, "How do you think Terry's taking this?"  
  
Mary did not answer at once. She instead moved to the picture window that overlooked downtown Gotham. Her son was holed up in Wayne Manor with the others that Bruce Wayne had considered family. She knew he was in terrible pain and she longed to comfort him. But she knew that he had to deal with this surrounded by those who truly understood what had been lost.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
Sighing softly, she answered her youngest son's question.  
  
"I don't know, Matty. I don't know. But I can imagine…" 


	2. Barbara Gordon-You Were Loved

That Which We Are, We Are  
By AngelQueen  
Disclaimer: The characters of Batman Beyond are not owned by me. I'm using them purely for the entertainment of the readers here and no money is being made from this. Standard disclaimers also apply.  
Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. The members of the Bat Family gather to say farewell to the one who created the legacy of Batman.  
  
Barbara Gordon-You Were Loved  
  
I always knew this day would come. I've been expecting it for so long and tried to prepare myself for it. Still, a part of me half-expected you to outlive us all. You always seemed to be immortal, no matter how much you aged.  
  
He's standing over there, Bruce. Do you see him? Terry is probably taking this hardest of all of us. God knows you put him through hell, just as you did with all of us, but there was a difference.   
  
He stuck around. Eventually, we couldn't take it anymore and left. But Terry stayed. He put up with you. At first, I thought it was just to avenge his father's murder, but later, I finally saw why.  
  
You were the only one he could see as a father, now that Warren McGinnis was gone. For all of your… unique personality quirks, he still saw you as a father.  
  
He lost one father, now he's lost the other. And he's feeling it. He's been feeling it since you squeezed his hand that final time. Then it was amplified when Dick showed up, too late to say goodbye.   
  
I think that if Tim and I hadn't held him back, Terry would have been all over Dick, pummeling him with all his might. Did you ever figure that you'd have one of the Bat family on your side, Bruce?  
  
You were estranged from Dick, Tim, and I for so long, but we had people on our side. For so long, you stayed alone, determined to keep us all away.  
  
But then this kid showed up. He sometimes reminds me of the way Tim was before what the Joker did to him. Both Tim and Terry have a bit of a mouth on them, but they're no where *near* Dick's level.  
  
Even after I left, a part of me still loved you. But my wounded pride made me forget that. I have Sam now and I love him dearly, but a part of me is still that fiery redhead who got fed up with the tension and finally slammed you against the wall and kissed the life out of you.  
  
Not that I'd admit it happened that way.  
  
You were loved, Bruce Wayne. You may have pushed us all away, you may have driven all of us mad, but we still loved you. You couldn't keep us from doing that, no matter how bad things became. 


	3. Richard Grayson-Too Late

That Which We Are, We Are  
By AngelQueen  
Disclaimer: The characters of Batman Beyond are not owned by me. I'm using them purely for the entertainment of the readers here and no money is being made from this. Standard disclaimers also apply.  
Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. The members of the Bat Family gather to say farewell to the one who created the legacy of Batman.  
  
Richard Grayson-Too Late  
  
You used to make me so angry. Everything had to be your way. Your way or the high way. I used to think that it was to keep the glory to yourself. At least, that was what my pride was telling me.  
  
The Devil take my pride. It's overrated, anyway.  
  
I stare down at the coffin now and I am torn between screaming at the injustice of it all, and confusion. Bruce Wayne isn't supposed to be in a coffin. He's supposed to be either at the Wayne Enterprises Building, making billions a day, or in the Bat Cave, barking orders at everyone.  
  
That was what drove me up the wall. I always thought you looked down on me because I couldn't be the Robin that you wanted me to be. That I'd never be worthy to one day take up the mantle of the Bat.  
  
But I was wrong. You were harsh with me, with all of us, because you wanted us to be the best we could be. You wanted us to be able to protect the people we loved, to protect ourselves.  
  
And I figured it out too late.   
  
When I heard about Batman reappearing in Gotham for the first time in twenty years, a part of me thought you'd snapped and gone back out in the suit, even after you'd sworn it off.   
  
But then, pictures slowly began to appear and I was able to piece together a few things. The new Batman was too small to have been you. He had to have been a kid. Then you started to actually started to come out of the house again, a young black-haired, blue-eyed kid hovering protectively behind you. It clicked after that.  
  
I kept an eye on the happenings with Batman in Gotham over the years, until three weeks ago, Barbara called me and said that you were sick and calling for me.   
  
I blew it off, thinking that it was just an excuse to get me back so you could criticize me again. I didn't want to go through that again, so I made a joke about it. I didn't see the hurt in Barbara's eyes until I thought about it afterwards.  
  
When I showed up at the Manor, Barbara, Tim, and the kid met me at the door. Thinking back on it, the kid's face was murderous as he gazed at me coldly. He must have really cared about you Bruce.  
  
But I didn't notice this at the time. I was too busy dealing with the guilt that had settled into my heart. You were dead, and I hadn't been here to say goodbye.  
  
I figured everything out, just as the World's Best Detective would have. But, I figured it out too late.  
  
I'm sorry Bruce. I was too late. 


	4. Timothy Drake-Thank You

That Which We Are, We Are  
By AngelQueen  
Disclaimer: The characters of Batman Beyond are not owned by me. I'm using them purely for the entertainment of the readers here and no money is being made from this. Standard disclaimers also apply.  
Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. The members of the Bat Family gather to say farewell to the one who created the legacy of Batman.  
  
Timothy Drake-Thank You  
  
I told the McGinnis kid that you probably did me a favor in forbidding me to be Robin again. I felt so bitter at the time. Sometimes I still do.   
  
I wanted to blame you. A part of me thought that if you'd trained me just a little bit better, Harley and the Joker would never have been able to put me through the hell that they did. If only you and Barbara had tried a little harder to find me, I wouldn't have ended up a psychological mess.   
  
But you were not to blame, and neither was Barbara. You'd done your best to protect and train me, but the Joker was determined to get a hold of me, no matter the cost.   
  
Then everything fell apart.  
  
After I left, there was only you and Barbara. She was never specific on what happened to the two of you in that time, but I can read between the lines, hear what is implied, but never spoken.   
  
I guess, even after all that was said, and not said, I just want to say thank you. You did the best you could, just as we did. Even though, in the end, it wasn't enough, you did your best.  
  
And I love you for that.  
  
Thank you Bruce. Thank you. 


	5. Terrance McGinnis-I Miss My Friend

Chapter Four: Terrance McGinnis-I Miss My Friend  
  
  
  
The funeral was arranged to be the finest affair in Gotham. Not that such a sentiment matters to me. Barbara, Mr. Drake, and Mr. Grayson handled all the arrangements; I haven't had to do a thing when it comes to this.  
  
It's only been three weeks. Three weeks that seems like three thousand years.  
  
I close my eyes to the coffin that lies in front of me. The priest's words aren't helping, so I tune him out.  
  
I can still feel you gripping my hand tightly, can still hear you struggle for breath as you called out the names of those you loved most. Your parents, Alfred, Selina, Dick. You called for Drake and Barbara as well. What surprised me was that you called out to me as well.  
  
And you withered all the more when only Barbara, Drake, and I answered.  
  
I feel so angry with Grayson. The fact that the others couldn't answer you was no fault of theirs. Be he's an entirely different story. I overheard Barbara when she called him. Grayson just blew her off, saying that you'd be fine within a few days.  
  
Two days later, Bruce, the end came.  
  
Drake and Barbara were barely holding back their tears. I had no such restraints and I cried for the first time since my father's death.  
  
I could barely be civil to Grayson when he finally showed up at Wayne Manor. I fought the urge to just punch him right when he walked in the door. I think that urge was obvious because Barbara and Drake each had a restraining hand on my shoulder.   
  
Surprisingly, I don't think Grayson noticed the fact that I was ready to take a few swings at him. His eyes were bleak as can be, unnoticing of anything around him. The guilt was apparent in his eyes as well.  
  
I guess that was what got me to lie off. His guilt was damaging enough, far worse than anything I could have done to him.  
  
I miss you, Bruce. I miss how you always seemed to be out there with me, watching my back. I miss how you'd demand to know if I'd been injured, making it sound like contempt. But after a while, I learned to see past the tone and hear the true concern behind the gruffness.  
  
Most of all... I miss my friend. You were, in some ways, my best friend. Don't get me wrong, Max is one of my best friends as well and I love her to death, but you... Bruce... you understood me in a way that no one else could. You understood what it was like to lose a parent, to be reborn into someone else.   
  
You understood me and I miss that understanding now. I miss it terribly. But most of all, I miss my friend... 


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
  
  
As the priest and the other guests looked on, Barbara Gordon, Richard Grayson, Timothy Drake, and Terrance McGinnis each sprinkled a handful of dirt on Bruce Wayne's coffin.  
  
Later, after everyone had paid their final respects, the four of them were left alone. Slowly, tears began to fall, along with a cold and heartbroken rain.  
  
Out of no where, Terry whispered softly, "The legacy won't die, Bruce. I promise you that. It won't die."  
  
"No it won't," Barbara answered as she carefully placed an arm around the younger man. "The four of us will see to that."   
  
Terry turned and stared at her for a moment. Seeing the firm resolve in her eyes, standing side by side with the deep and echoing sorrow, he enfolded her in a tight hug. After a moment, Tim and Dick joined them.  
  
*!*  
  
Mary and Matt McGinnis, Max Gibson, Sam Young, Dick and Tim's wives and children stood watching from a distance as the four who'd been left behind clustered together for the support that only they could grant one another.  
  
Mary shook her head. She doubted she'd ever truly understand what they'd lost three weeks ago. It was only something that those who'd felt the loss could understand.  
  
But they'd continue on. She knew that. For Bruce Wayne, they'd keep going.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Though we are not now   
that strength which in old days   
moved earth and heaven,   
that which we are, we are…   
One equal temper of heroic hearts,   
made weak by time and fate,   
but strong in will…   
to strive, to seek, to find…   
and not to yield."  
  
  
Tennyson's Ulysses 


End file.
